354: Jon Perry – Exhortation: Simply Revelation

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Hello everyone, this is Levi.
Before we start the show as we

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normally do, I wanted to make a
quick request.

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We’re doing great, everything is
fine on our end, so don’t be

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scared I guess.
But what about to say?

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But we are about to start our
8th year in October of the

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podcast when we’re super
thankful for that.

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We are looking to kind of expand
the team.

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I think a few of us are
interested in stepping back and

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doing less hosting and we’re
looking for a few more people to

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help us listen to talks and find
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So if that’s something that
sounds interesting to you, and I

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would also say most especially
if you’re not from North

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America, as the other four of us
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us know. e-mail us at
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Let us know if you’d be
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introductions for some episodes
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Thanks.
And now we’ll get back to the

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show.
Welcome to good Christadelphian

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talks.
I’m Levi.

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I’m Chris.
I’m Jason.

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And I’m Brian.
Thank you for.

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Joining us this week on this
podcast, we select one talk a

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week to help us get the Bible in
our Daily News feed.

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Each week we post a talk that we
previewed from suggestions sent

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in by listeners from around the
world.

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Then we record a short intro
beforehand as a personalized

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recommendation to you on why we
are sharing the talk.

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And now let’s talk more about.
This week’s talk.

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This week’s talk is an
exhortation given by brother

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John Perry at the Portage
Christadelphian Study Weekend on

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May 18th of this year.
Don’t have a specific title for

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the exhortation.
The overall title of his weekend

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was simply Revelation.
John takes a look at the Olivet

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Prophecy and a bunch of other
scriptures in this exhortation

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with a really hopeful message,
which I really enjoyed about how

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that even though the, you know,
the return of Jesus, the

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judgment or the, or the, or the
Roman armies or, or any sort of

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judgment, as you know, as, as
sometimes negative or can be

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viewed positively.
If we are in hope, there is

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still time.
And he repeats that kind of

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throughout the excitation.
Just that theme of repentance,

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right, And a recognition that we
can be, we can always still turn

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and return to our heavenly
Father.

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Really enjoy this agitation.
I do think it kind of warms up.

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I would say definitely John is
kind of he really gets gets

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going, I would say in the say in
the middle and the second-half

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of the agitation.
It’s it’s an interesting Bible

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study portion that he does at
the beginning, looking at the

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names of the cities that Jesus
visits on his final trip to

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Jerusalem.
But then you can kind of hear

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him kind of reach his passion
point in the middle of the talk

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and and throughout to the end.
Very fun.

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Listen.
So here is Brother John Perry’s

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excitation always, or simply
revelation.

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Mark 11 is the beginning of the
week leading up to the

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crucifixion, and it begins with
Jesus and the disciples

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approaching Jerusalem by way of
places that a very distinct

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names.
Mark 11 verse one.

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And when they came nigh to
Jerusalem unto Beth Phage and

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Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
he sendeth forth two of his

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disciples.
Now Beth Phage means House of

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unripe figs, and Bethany’s name
means House of figs.

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And the verses that follow
describe in some detail the

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entry of our Lord into Jerusalem
on a colt, with the day ending

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in verse 11.
Jesus entered into Jerusalem and

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into the temple.
And when he had looked round

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about upon all things, and now
the eventide was come, He went

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out unto Bethany, back unto the
House of Figs with the 12.

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You know Scripture sometimes
draws our attentions to things

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by bookending things.
And so I would put to you that

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this is the beginning of a
bookend, that Christ at the end

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of this triumphal entry into a
city that will be his, goes to

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the House of his Father, a House
of prayer for all nations, and

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looks round about in verse 11
upon all things.

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Now the other bookend to this, I
think, is in verse 15.

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And they come to Jerusalem.
And Jesus went into the temple

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and began to cast out them that
sold and bought in the temple

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and overthrew the tables of the
money changers and the seats of

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them that sold doves and would
not suffer that any man should

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carry any vessel through the
temple.

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So what’s in the middle?
What’s where is our focus drawn

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to?
Well, we know what day one was

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day one here of this last week
is Jesus triumphal entry day 2

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on the Morrow in verse 12 when
they were come from where?

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From the House of figs Jesus was
hungry, and seeing a fig tree

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afar off, having leaves, he came
have happily he might find

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anything thereon.
And when he came to it, he found

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nothing but leaves, for the time
of figs was not yet.

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And Jesus answered and son, and
said unto it, No man eat fruit

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of thee hereafter forever.
And his disciples heard it.

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The fig tree in Scripture is 1
of many symbols for Israel and

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Judah of Judah.
It is written in Jeremiah when I

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would gather them.
There are no grapes on the vine

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nor figs on the fig tree.
Even the leaves are withered.

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Also in Jeremiah of Israel is
written.

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Thus says the Lord of hosts,
Behold, I am sending on them

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sword, famine and pestilence,
and I will make them like vile

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figs that are so rotten they
cannot be eaten in Hosea, like

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grapes in the wilderness.
I found Israel like the first

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fruit on the fig tree in its
first season.

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I saw your father’s.
So what’s really interesting

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here is we find the bookends
being Jesus coming to evaluate

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the House of his father.
He evaluates it on maybe

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afternoon, evening, and then
comes back to the city and on

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his way back into the city he
sees a symbol of that nation, a

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nation that he had just
evaluated.

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He sees the tree growing and
looking like all was in place,

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the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and all their ordered

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arrangement.
In a way they kept the temple

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and that would have seemed to be
a a vibrant fig tree, but it

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wasn’t.
When Jesus came there, He found

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no fruit on it.
Now it says it wasn’t the season

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for figs.
So what was Jesus doing looking

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for fruit on this fig tree
anyway?

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Well, what’s interesting about
fig trees is fig trees will will

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produce small edible buds before
the ripe fruit.

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Now these, you know, these are
not actual figs, but they are a

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symbol of what is to come.
And if your fig tree doesn’t

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have these little buds, it means
that no fruit is coming in

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season.
And so when Jesus comes to this

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tree and sees there’s no little
buds on it, obviously nothing

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positive is coming from this
tree.

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And it’s book ended by Jesus
evaluation of the temple and

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then his castigation of those
things that were happening

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inside that temple.
And we see this fig tree right

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in the middle of it.
And we know what Jesus does to

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this fig tree.
He says it’s over for you fig

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tree, it’s done.
He curses it and that’s that.

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Well, is that that?
Well, we see in the next day the

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beginning of another bookend in
verse 20.

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And in the morning as they pass
by, they saw the fig tree dried

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up from the roots.
And Peter calling to remember,

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and said unto him, Master,
behold, the fig tree which thou

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cursed is withered away.
And Jesus answering said unto

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them, Have faith in God.
You know, that’s an interesting

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response.
But knowing about the symbolism,

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we see what Jesus is getting at.
We see Jesus is getting at, he

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said, look, I’ve just evaluated
this temple.

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I’ve found that it’s a disaster.
I’ve had to clean it out.

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You know, I’ve cursed this fig
tree.

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And the symbol of this cursed
fig tree is that within my

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father’s father’s house and
within the city that’s supposed

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to be filled with people that
saw me coming as a fulfillment

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of the law is nothing.
It’s a faithless nation.

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Peter, see this fig tree?
You have faith unlike those

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people in that city.
So I want to show you where the

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end of this book end is.
All right, This is there is one

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kind of large day now here.
So the day ends if you turn over

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a few pages.
It ends in the chapter we just

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read.
It ends at the end of chapter

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13.
But I don’t want to focus quite

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yet on the very end of chapter
13.

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I want you to see the end of the
bookend here in 13 verse 28.

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Now learn a parable of the fig
tree.

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When her branch is yet tender
and putteth forth leaves, ye

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know that summer is near.
Now I want you to take a look at

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13 verse one.
And as he went out of the

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temple, one of his disciples
saith on him, Master, see what

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manner of stones and what
buildings are here.

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And Jesus answering said unto
him, See us, thou these great

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buildings, there shall not be
left one stone upon another that

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shall not be thrown down.
Now we kind of see, I think one

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of the reasons maybe the Olivet
prophecy is given here is

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because the disciples just may
not kind of see what’s going on

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here.
You see, you know, 2 days ago

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for them, Jesus evaluated all
things in the temple.

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A day ago for them, he cursed A
fig tree and cleaned out the

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temple.
And now the beginning of this

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day, they see a withered fig
tree.

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And yet, what do they still say?
They still say Jesus look at how

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great this temple looks.
Look at how amazing it is.

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Look at all these buildings.
Whereas Jesus has been building

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to the point of look, this is
all going away.

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And so now Jesus now says I
think now is basically saying,

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let me now really tell you in
detail what’s going to happen to

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this place.
All right now we know that this

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chapter is often styled the
Olivet prophecy.

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Why is it the style the Olivet
prophecy?

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Well, he’s sitting on the Mount
of Olives in verse 3, and as he

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sat set upon the Mount of Olives
over against the temple, 2 sets

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of brothers come to him.
Peter and James and John and

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Andrew asked him privately, tell
us, when shall these things be?

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And what shall be the sign when
all these things shall be

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fulfilled?
We know that in Matthew there’s

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an extra detail included.
What shall be the sign of the

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coming and of the end of the
age?

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And so Jesus then goes on to
answer the first question, when

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shall these things be?
The things here are there shall

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not be left one stone upon
another that shall not be thrown

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down, which we know happened
when the Romans took down stone

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by stone and brick by brick, you
know, parts of the wall and the

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temple.
And they brought the end of the

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Jewish age to a dramatic close
by destroying Jerusalem and

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burning to the ground.
Jesus addresses a lot of these

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specific details throughout the
chapter.

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Verse 7 and 8 shall hear of wars
and rumors of wars.

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Be not troubled.
Verse 8, nation will rise

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against nation.
And verse 9, take heed to

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yourselves, for they’re going to
deliver you up to councils and

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in the synagogue’s you will be
beaten, and ye shall be brought

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before rulers and kings for my
sake, for a testimony against

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them.
Verse 10, the gospel message has

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to go out into all the world to
the Gentiles.

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These things are going to
happen.

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That’s what’s going to happen.
That’s what’s going to happen in

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the events surrounding 8070.
The Jewish age is coming to a

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close, and finally it comes to
an absolute close in verses 24

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and 25.
But in those days after that

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tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not

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give her light, and the stars of
heaven shall fall, and the

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powers that are in heaven shall
be shaken.

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So now we come to the answering
of the question posed in

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Matthew.
What will be the sign of thy

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coming, and of the end of the
age?

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This is clear cut in verse 26.
And then shall they see the Son

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of Man coming in the clouds with
great power and glory.

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And then shall he send his
angels, and shall gather

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together his elect from the four
winds, from the uttermost part

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00:13:41,000 –> 00:13:44,040
of the earth to the uttermost
part of heaven.

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The day that began with the
withered fig tree from the roots

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00:13:51,040 –> 00:13:57,080
cursed by the Master, now comes
to an end with another parable,

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a parable of a revitalized fig
tree.

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Now learn a parable of the fig
tree in verse 28.

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When her branch is yet tender
and putteth forth leaves, you

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00:14:09,080 –> 00:14:13,960
know that summer is nigh.
So ye see, so ye in like manner,

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00:14:13,960 –> 00:14:17,480
when ye shall see these things
come to pass, know that it is

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00:14:17,480 –> 00:14:22,200
nigh even at the doors.
Verily I say unto you that this

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00:14:22,200 –> 00:14:27,280
generation shall not pass until
all these things be done.

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00:14:30,480 –> 00:14:34,320
And this verse about this
revitalized fig tree is

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00:14:34,560 –> 00:14:38,800
sandwiched in between verses
about the Kingdom age.

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It’s sandwiched in between
verses about Christ’s second

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00:14:42,800 –> 00:14:47,080
coming.
We like the believers in Christ

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00:14:47,080 –> 00:14:50,240
at the end of the Jewish age,
we’ve been given ample time to

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00:14:50,240 –> 00:14:52,440
be prepared for what is coming
upon this world.

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Don’t turn this up.
But in Luke’s account of the

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00:14:55,280 –> 00:14:57,760
Olivet prophecy, those who
believed in Christ would have

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00:14:57,760 –> 00:15:00,880
heeded this advice.
When ye shall see Jerusalem

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00:15:00,920 –> 00:15:05,240
compassed with armies, then know
that the desolation thereof is

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00:15:05,240 –> 00:15:07,400
nigh.
Then let them which are in Judea

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00:15:07,400 –> 00:15:09,640
flee to the mountains, and let
them which are in the midst of

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00:15:09,640 –> 00:15:13,440
it depart out, and let not them
that are in the countries enter

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00:15:13,480 –> 00:15:17,520
therein.
To those who believed in Christ,

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00:15:18,880 –> 00:15:23,440
they left the city and were
spared, and those who would

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00:15:23,440 –> 00:15:27,360
fight to preserve that cursed
fig tree of a city paid with

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00:15:27,360 –> 00:15:30,240
their lives.
If they held on to the corrupt

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00:15:30,240 –> 00:15:33,240
way of doing things with the
Pharisees and Sadducees had put

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00:15:33,240 –> 00:15:37,600
together, their lives would end.
But if they listen to Christ and

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00:15:37,600 –> 00:15:40,960
left their old lives behind,
they had life.

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00:15:43,680 –> 00:15:46,640
And the lesson is there for us
today, isn’t it, Brother and

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00:15:46,640 –> 00:15:50,280
sisters?
We see the revitalized fig tree.

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00:15:50,960 –> 00:15:55,600
There are people in this very
room who remember when that fig

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00:15:55,600 –> 00:15:59,720
tree first came to birth.
Now, it’s not mentioned whether

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00:15:59,720 –> 00:16:02,960
this fig tree has fruit or not,
but we know that when Christ

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00:16:02,960 –> 00:16:05,560
comes, he will make them bear
fruit.

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00:16:10,400 –> 00:16:14,160
It’s one of my probably my
favorite things about the Olivet

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00:16:14,160 –> 00:16:23,800
Prophecy is that no matter how
close we are to the end, no

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matter how close the Roman
legions of 8070 are, no matter

258
00:16:29,000 –> 00:16:33,640
how close the King of the North
is to coming down upon this this

259
00:16:33,640 –> 00:16:39,280
land again, no matter how close
Armageddon is, there’s still

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00:16:39,280 –> 00:16:44,320
time to leave the corrupt things
of our lives.

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00:16:45,040 –> 00:16:49,360
There’s still time to get away
from old habits.

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00:16:49,360 –> 00:16:53,240
We may have returned to old ways
of thinking, or maybe we have

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00:16:53,240 –> 00:16:56,360
just clung far too long to
things that we should have never

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00:16:56,360 –> 00:17:00,080
been hanging on to all along.
But it’s never too late.

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00:17:00,560 –> 00:17:04,119
The lesson is not to wait until
Christ returns, for we don’t

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00:17:04,119 –> 00:17:05,319
know when that’s going to
happen.

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00:17:05,680 –> 00:17:08,319
We don’t know when our less
breath breath is.

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But we know that as long as
there is breath in us that there

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is still time.
There’s still time to get away

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from what God would bring upon
this world in judgment.

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This brings us to Jeremiah 38.
Why Jeremiah 38?

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00:17:47,240 –> 00:17:53,520
Jeremiah 38 is very, very
similar to what is happening in

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00:17:53,520 –> 00:17:58,480
8070.
In Jeremiah 38, we find the city

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00:17:59,200 –> 00:18:04,000
under siege.
We find desperate conditions.

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00:18:04,840 –> 00:18:09,240
It is the end of an age.
The religious leaders were

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00:18:09,240 –> 00:18:12,480
corrupt.
There were false prophets.

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00:18:13,280 –> 00:18:17,440
The prophet who was a type of
Christ, Jeremiah was persecuted

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00:18:17,480 –> 00:18:22,400
and sentenced to death prior to
being lifted out of a literal

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00:18:22,400 –> 00:18:25,920
pit.
The city would go on to endure a

280
00:18:25,920 –> 00:18:29,080
terrible siege where people
would eat their own children, as

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00:18:29,080 –> 00:18:33,200
we’re told in Lamentations, and
the temple would be completely

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00:18:33,200 –> 00:18:36,800
destroyed on the exact same day
of the year that the Romans

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00:18:36,800 –> 00:18:42,800
destroyed Herod’s temple.
Yet yet all of those things

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00:18:42,800 –> 00:18:47,400
being said, there was a way out.
And so in Jeremiah 38, what we

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00:18:47,400 –> 00:18:50,120
find at the beginning of
Jeremiah 38 is Jeremiah

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00:18:50,240 –> 00:18:53,760
sentenced to death, has now been
lifted out of the pit.

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00:18:54,000 –> 00:18:57,920
And the very person, the very
weak king that had sentenced him

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00:18:57,920 –> 00:19:03,000
there now calls to Jeremiah,
says Jeremiah, I need to talk to

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00:19:03,000 –> 00:19:05,600
you, but I need to talk to you
in secret.

290
00:19:06,480 –> 00:19:09,680
Look at verse 14.
Then Zedekiah the king sent and

291
00:19:09,680 –> 00:19:14,040
took Jeremiah the prophet unto
him into the third entry that is

292
00:19:14,040 –> 00:19:16,680
in the House of the Lord.
And people kind of commentators

293
00:19:16,680 –> 00:19:19,160
kind of suggest this is this is
like the back door.

294
00:19:19,760 –> 00:19:22,480
Zedekiah sang.
Jeremiah, I need to talk to you

295
00:19:22,920 –> 00:19:25,400
in quiet, but I know I just
sentenced you to death.

296
00:19:25,400 –> 00:19:28,400
I know that you’re here now, but
I really need to hear you know

297
00:19:28,480 –> 00:19:30,720
what you’re going to say.
He says the end of verse 14, I’m

298
00:19:30,720 –> 00:19:33,000
going to ask you a thing.
Don’t hide anything from me.

299
00:19:33,640 –> 00:19:36,440
And Jeremiah says in verse 15,
Look, if I tell you the truth,

300
00:19:36,640 –> 00:19:38,160
you’re going to sentence me back
to death.

301
00:19:39,200 –> 00:19:41,440
In verse 16, Zedekiah says, no,
that’s not true.

302
00:19:41,640 –> 00:19:44,160
Zedekiah the king square
secretly under Jeremiah, saying,

303
00:19:44,440 –> 00:19:48,120
As the Lord lives that made us
this soul, I won’t put you to

304
00:19:48,120 –> 00:19:51,360
death, neither will I give thee
into the hand of these men that

305
00:19:51,360 –> 00:19:55,000
seek thy life.
So then what does Jeremiah say?

306
00:19:55,760 –> 00:19:58,520
What does he say to this evil
king?

307
00:19:58,520 –> 00:20:03,760
He says Thus saith the Lord, the
God of hosts, the God of Israel,

308
00:20:04,560 –> 00:20:08,240
if thou wilt assuredly go forth
unto the king of Babylon’s

309
00:20:08,240 –> 00:20:11,720
Princess.
Then thy soul shall live, and

310
00:20:11,720 –> 00:20:14,880
the city shall not be burned
with fire, and thou shalt live

311
00:20:15,320 –> 00:20:18,480
and thine house.
But if thou wilt not go forth to

312
00:20:18,480 –> 00:20:21,680
the king of Babylon’s Princess,
then shall this city be given

313
00:20:21,680 –> 00:20:24,560
into the hand of the Chaldeans,
and they shall burn it with

314
00:20:24,560 –> 00:20:27,680
fire, and thou shalt not escape
out of their hand.

315
00:20:28,440 –> 00:20:31,600
The message is the same.
The message is the same as the

316
00:20:31,600 –> 00:20:34,200
Olivet prophecy.
When you see, when you see

317
00:20:34,200 –> 00:20:37,440
Jerusalem surrounded by armies,
which it was right at this very

318
00:20:37,440 –> 00:20:40,800
moment when Jeremiah spoke these
words, it’s not too late.

319
00:20:41,520 –> 00:20:43,680
It’s not too late.
There is a plan.

320
00:20:43,840 –> 00:20:45,800
It may not be the plan you want,
Zedekiah.

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00:20:45,800 –> 00:20:48,680
The plan may be you got to go to
Babylon, you know, and I’ll work

322
00:20:48,680 –> 00:20:50,640
with you there.
But there is a plan.

323
00:20:50,640 –> 00:20:54,800
It seems dark.
It seems impossible in life to

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00:20:54,800 –> 00:20:57,520
get out of certain things, but
there is a plan.

325
00:20:57,720 –> 00:20:59,880
There is a way.
What does Zedekiah say?

326
00:21:00,240 –> 00:21:03,600
Zedekiah says, I can’t do that.
I’m going to be made fun of.

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00:21:03,960 –> 00:21:07,000
You don’t understand.
I’m king and my pride is going

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00:21:07,000 –> 00:21:08,760
to be heard.
Zedekiah says in verse 19.

329
00:21:09,040 –> 00:21:11,760
Zedekiah the Sing king said of
Jeremiah, I am afraid of the

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00:21:11,760 –> 00:21:14,760
Jews that are fallen to the
Chaldeans, lest they deliver me

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00:21:14,760 –> 00:21:16,880
into their hand and they mock
me.

332
00:21:17,760 –> 00:21:22,480
And Jeremiah goes on to say, he
says, look, just do what God

333
00:21:22,480 –> 00:21:30,400
says, I’ll get you out of this.
Now where were the people in all

334
00:21:30,400 –> 00:21:34,320
of this mess that believed?
There’s always a remnant that

335
00:21:34,320 –> 00:21:38,600
believes, and we are desperately
trying to be that remnant in the

336
00:21:38,600 –> 00:21:40,400
latter days.
Where were they?

337
00:21:41,120 –> 00:21:44,960
Well, we know where they were.
We know where they’re Daniel

338
00:21:44,960 –> 00:21:50,200
was, Daniel was in Babylon.
Ezekiel was in Babylon.

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00:21:50,640 –> 00:21:53,880
You know, they had been there
for for 20 years.

340
00:21:55,480 –> 00:21:59,480
God was working with them.
Where do we find this in

341
00:21:59,480 –> 00:22:10,980
Scripture in Jeremiah 24, and
what are they symbolized as?

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00:22:11,760 –> 00:22:14,760
You know what they’re symbolized
as because we’ve been talking

343
00:22:14,760 –> 00:22:18,920
about this morning.
They’re symbolized by fakes in

344
00:22:18,920 –> 00:22:23,880
verse 5.
Thus saith the Lord, the God of

345
00:22:23,880 –> 00:22:29,600
Israel.
Like these good figs, so will I

346
00:22:29,600 –> 00:22:32,720
acknowledge them that are
carried away captive of Judah,

347
00:22:33,000 –> 00:22:36,360
whom I have sent out of this
place into the land of the

348
00:22:36,360 –> 00:22:40,480
Chaldeans for their good.
For I will set my eyes upon them

349
00:22:40,480 –> 00:22:43,080
for good, and I will bring them
again to this land.

350
00:22:43,320 –> 00:22:45,600
And I will build them, and not
pull them down.

351
00:22:45,800 –> 00:22:47,840
And I will plant them and not
pluck them up.

352
00:22:48,160 –> 00:22:51,720
And I will give them in heart to
know me, that I am the Lord, and

353
00:22:51,720 –> 00:22:54,560
they shall be my people, and I
will be their God, for they

354
00:22:54,560 –> 00:22:56,600
shall return unto me with their
whole heart.

355
00:22:56,840 –> 00:23:02,520
There is a plan, it may not be
the plan that makes sense to

356
00:23:02,520 –> 00:23:04,920
earthly minds.
Those people might have thought,

357
00:23:05,080 –> 00:23:08,200
look, look at all these holy
wonderful people that are saving

358
00:23:08,200 –> 00:23:10,160
the city.
They’re left into Jerusalem.

359
00:23:10,200 –> 00:23:12,880
Those are the good people.
And what Jeremiah and God is

360
00:23:12,880 –> 00:23:14,560
saying through Jeremiah, no, no,
no, no.

361
00:23:14,760 –> 00:23:19,040
My plan is to get you out of
that city, out of that wicked

362
00:23:19,040 –> 00:23:21,920
city and work with you in
another place.

363
00:23:22,120 –> 00:23:25,720
And God says, I’ll tell you
exactly what I think about those

364
00:23:25,720 –> 00:23:27,640
people in that corrupt city in
verse 8.

365
00:23:27,640 –> 00:23:30,640
And as these evil figs which
cannot be eaten, they are so

366
00:23:30,640 –> 00:23:33,840
evil, surely thus says the Lord.
So will I give Zedekiah the king

367
00:23:33,840 –> 00:23:36,800
of Judah and his Princess, and
the residue of Jerusalem that

368
00:23:36,800 –> 00:23:39,320
remain in this land, and them
that dwell in the land of Egypt.

369
00:23:39,520 –> 00:23:42,080
And I would deliver them to be
removed in all the kingdoms of

370
00:23:42,080 –> 00:23:44,600
the earth, for their hurt to be
a reproach and a proverb, A

371
00:23:44,600 –> 00:23:47,600
taunt and a curse in all places
where I shall drive them.

372
00:23:47,800 –> 00:23:50,440
And I will send the sword,
famine, pestilence among them,

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00:23:50,640 –> 00:23:53,080
so that be consumed from off the
land that I gave unto them and

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00:23:53,080 –> 00:23:55,440
to their fathers.
Those are the people that are,

375
00:23:55,520 –> 00:23:58,280
that are the bad figs.
Those people are hanging on to

376
00:23:58,280 –> 00:24:01,520
this wicked way of practice and
all the bad things that they

377
00:24:01,520 –> 00:24:04,520
have done in the city.
And we see this time and time

378
00:24:04,520 –> 00:24:08,320
and time again in Bible
prophecy, and this applies very

379
00:24:08,320 –> 00:24:11,680
much to our lives.
One, it’s not too late.

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00:24:12,960 –> 00:24:18,000
It’s not too late what?
No matter how bleak it looks, no

381
00:24:18,000 –> 00:24:21,560
matter how close the siege is,
no matter how close we think

382
00:24:21,560 –> 00:24:24,920
Christ’s return is, it’s not too
late to turn around.

383
00:24:25,120 –> 00:24:29,440
And two, don’t know how God
works in our lives.

384
00:24:30,280 –> 00:24:34,720
We just can’t understand it
sometimes, sometimes drawing us

385
00:24:35,200 –> 00:24:38,600
out of something that we think
we should be hanging on to, you

386
00:24:38,600 –> 00:24:41,200
know, hanging out or we should
be hanging on to this temple.

387
00:24:41,200 –> 00:24:42,680
God, this is, this is your
house.

388
00:24:42,680 –> 00:24:45,040
This is where we should be.
God is saying no, no, no, no.

389
00:24:45,360 –> 00:24:50,200
I’m drawing you out of this evil
situation into a land where I

390
00:24:50,200 –> 00:24:54,360
can work with you.
And God works with us in the

391
00:24:54,360 –> 00:24:59,640
same way, you know, and, and
sometimes for these people, God

392
00:24:59,640 –> 00:25:03,680
is merciful unto us.
And that even when we don’t give

393
00:25:03,680 –> 00:25:07,640
up those things, a lot of these
people drawn into captivity

394
00:25:07,760 –> 00:25:10,720
didn’t want to be drawn into
captivity.

395
00:25:11,520 –> 00:25:14,040
Yet God was merciful to them and
said, I’m going to grab you

396
00:25:14,080 –> 00:25:16,400
anyway.
I know you don’t understand

397
00:25:16,400 –> 00:25:17,880
what’s going on in your life
right now.

398
00:25:18,360 –> 00:25:22,120
I know you don’t understand.
And I’m drawing you into this

399
00:25:22,120 –> 00:25:24,280
land of idolatry to work with
you.

400
00:25:24,800 –> 00:25:30,520
But I am, you’re the good figs.
And so when it seems dark and it

401
00:25:30,640 –> 00:25:34,560
and it seems dim and we don’t
understand what God is doing in

402
00:25:34,560 –> 00:25:36,680
our lives and how can God be
working through this, I think

403
00:25:36,680 –> 00:25:39,560
I’m supposed to be over there.
Well, that just may not be the

404
00:25:39,560 –> 00:25:42,960
case.
Hopefully God is still working

405
00:25:42,960 –> 00:25:48,040
with us as good figs in whatever
difficult situation we find

406
00:25:48,040 –> 00:25:51,880
ourselves in.
To close, I want to end in

407
00:25:51,880 –> 00:26:09,640
Hebrews 13.
You know some of those who have

408
00:26:10,160 –> 00:26:14,120
tried to put a date on the
writing of Hebrews plates, its

409
00:26:14,160 –> 00:26:20,400
authorship somewhere between
8050 and 8065.

410
00:26:21,960 –> 00:26:27,480
And if it was written as late as
8065, that puts us right on the

411
00:26:27,480 –> 00:26:31,760
eve of the Roman invasion
beginning in 8066 and

412
00:26:31,760 –> 00:26:37,000
culminating in 87.
Now remember, Paul is likely the

413
00:26:37,000 –> 00:26:39,720
author.
He’s been making a case

414
00:26:40,000 –> 00:26:43,240
throughout the book that Christ
is greater than the angels

415
00:26:43,240 –> 00:26:46,600
through whom the law came,
greater than Moses the Lawgiver,

416
00:26:46,880 –> 00:26:50,800
greater than Joshua, that the
law was not to be something to

417
00:26:50,800 –> 00:26:54,680
return to, but something that
Christ had fulfilled, that the

418
00:26:54,680 –> 00:26:59,600
law pointed forward to him.
Some of these people so

419
00:26:59,600 –> 00:27:02,760
desperately wanted to go back to
the lives that they had left,

420
00:27:02,760 –> 00:27:06,480
that they have left back to the
families, and now rejected them

421
00:27:06,640 –> 00:27:09,880
for believing in Christ.
Back to the synagogue.

422
00:27:11,600 –> 00:27:14,480
So what does Paul’s final
argument in the book of Hebrews

423
00:27:14,480 –> 00:27:17,160
include?
But the same message of the

424
00:27:17,160 –> 00:27:21,440
Olivet prophecy.
Get out of that city and its

425
00:27:21,440 –> 00:27:24,560
corrupt ways and go where?
Go to Christ.

426
00:27:25,960 –> 00:27:32,800
Verse 8.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday

427
00:27:33,360 –> 00:27:37,720
and today, and forever be not
carried about with diverse and

428
00:27:37,720 –> 00:27:39,880
strange doctrines.
For it is a good thing that the

429
00:27:39,880 –> 00:27:43,600
heart be established with grace,
not with meats which have not

430
00:27:43,600 –> 00:27:45,840
profited them that have been
occupied therein.

431
00:27:46,840 –> 00:27:52,080
We have an altar where of they
have no right to eat, which

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00:27:52,080 –> 00:27:55,400
serve the Tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts

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00:27:55,640 –> 00:27:58,960
whose blood is brought into the
sanctuary by the high priest for

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00:27:58,960 –> 00:28:03,400
sin are burned without the camp.
I want to stop right there.

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00:28:03,560 –> 00:28:05,200
That’s a reference to the sin
offering.

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00:28:06,280 –> 00:28:11,440
When the blood went into the
Most Holy Place, the body went

437
00:28:12,120 –> 00:28:14,200
outside of the camp to be
burned.

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00:28:14,720 –> 00:28:17,880
If you want to have.
The law was speaking to this all

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00:28:17,880 –> 00:28:20,840
along.
If you want to have fellowship

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00:28:20,960 –> 00:28:24,800
with the Most Holy place, with
the mercy seat, you know that

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00:28:24,800 –> 00:28:28,120
represents Christ.
If you want to be there, then

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00:28:28,160 –> 00:28:31,560
guess where you have to be?
You have to be outside of the

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00:28:31,560 –> 00:28:33,600
camp, because that’s where
Christ died.

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00:28:34,360 –> 00:28:37,480
Verse 12 Wherefore Jesus also,
that He might sanctify the

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00:28:37,480 –> 00:28:41,120
people with His own blood,
suffered without the gate.

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00:28:42,000 –> 00:28:47,600
Let us go forth therefore unto
Him, without the camp, bearing

447
00:28:47,600 –> 00:28:51,960
His reproach.
We’re not embarrassed like

448
00:28:51,960 –> 00:28:56,080
Zedekiah.
We’re not concerned about what

449
00:28:56,080 –> 00:28:59,320
other people may think about
these decisions, about what it

450
00:28:59,320 –> 00:29:04,440
might be to be like to stand
alone, to be different, to leave

451
00:29:04,440 –> 00:29:07,440
the things we’ve been hanging on
to that we that we should have

452
00:29:07,440 –> 00:29:11,000
left all along.
To say where I was this weekend

453
00:29:11,160 –> 00:29:14,040
and what I was doing and the
importance that holds in my

454
00:29:14,040 –> 00:29:17,440
life, you know, and, you know,
and not, you know, for myself

455
00:29:17,440 –> 00:29:19,520
returning back to work and, oh,
what did you do this weekend?

456
00:29:19,880 –> 00:29:22,320
I was in Chicago.
You know, I was just looking

457
00:29:22,320 –> 00:29:25,160
around the city, you know, not
be that person.

458
00:29:27,240 –> 00:29:34,080
Bear the reproach of the master.
Verse 14 For here have we no

459
00:29:34,120 –> 00:29:38,880
continuing city, but we seek one
to come.

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00:29:41,000 –> 00:29:44,840
Many of the Jews who received
this message wanted Jerusalem to

461
00:29:44,840 –> 00:29:49,720
be their continuing city.
How could this beautiful temple

462
00:29:49,960 –> 00:29:53,760
with all its stones and all of
its gold go away?

463
00:29:54,720 –> 00:29:59,360
They wanted to go back to their
old ways of doing things to be

464
00:29:59,800 –> 00:30:03,680
comfortable.
How could the right answer not

465
00:30:03,680 –> 00:30:07,920
be to go back to the temple and
it’s alter itself?

466
00:30:09,800 –> 00:30:11,120
But it wasn’t the right answer,
was it?

467
00:30:11,920 –> 00:30:15,240
The right answer was that Christ
suffered with outside of the

468
00:30:15,240 –> 00:30:19,400
camp that this city, that this
city is withered fig tree, that

469
00:30:19,400 –> 00:30:23,880
it’s going away, that Christ has
cursed it because it rejected

470
00:30:23,880 –> 00:30:26,880
him.
Now get out of there and go

471
00:30:26,880 –> 00:30:30,560
relate to who Christ actually
was, someone who suffered for

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00:30:30,560 –> 00:30:36,440
your sins outside of this place.
And you know, when we get there,

473
00:30:36,720 –> 00:30:40,520
when we get outside the city,
there’s a sacrifice to be

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00:30:40,520 –> 00:30:47,520
offered there, which we do now
because it’s all we can do is be

475
00:30:47,520 –> 00:30:52,400
thankful for what he has done,
what God has done through his

476
00:30:52,400 –> 00:30:56,040
Son on our behalf.
It’s in verse 15.

477
00:30:57,640 –> 00:31:01,880
By him.
Therefore, let us offer the

478
00:31:01,880 –> 00:31:05,720
sacrifice of praise to God
continually.

479
00:31:06,560 –> 00:31:10,240
That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to his name.

480
00:31:23,720 –> 00:31:25,840
Thank you for listening to the
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481
00:31:25,840 –> 00:31:28,440
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00:31:28,440 –> 00:31:29,960
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483
00:31:31,120 –> 00:31:33,160
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498
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